Irish Language Agency

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What consultations took place with officials of the Eire Government before that Government announced on 3 December 2003 the relocation of the Irish Language Agency to Donegal.

Baroness Amos: There was no consultation with officials of the Irish Government before the announcement on 3 December 2003 on the proposed relocation of the Irish Language Agency to Donegal. However the announcement made it clear that any such move would be subject to NSMC agreement.

Language Implementation Body

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 10 June (WA 42) concerning the Language Implementation Body's budget, why there was no agreement with the agencies concerning the setting of the 2004 budget.

Baroness Amos: I refer the noble Lord to my Answers of 22 March 2004 (WA 73), 21 April 2004 (WA 39), 17 June 2004 (WA 80) and 22 June 2004 (WA 113). I have nothing further to add to these Answers.

Ulster-Scots Agency

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have discussed with the Eire Government the suitability of certain grants made by the Ulster-Scots Agency to groups supporting Ulster-Scots culture; and if so, when such discussions were held.

Baroness Amos: I can confirm that no such discussions were held. The board of the agency has responsibility for the exercise of the functions of the agency. Decisions on the payment of specific grants are primarily for the board of the agency with due regard to the approved business and corporate plans and also the remit of the agency.

Ulster-Scots Agency

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 14 June (WA 53) concerning the appointment of a Cultural Affairs Officer by the Northern Ireland Department of Culture and Leisure, what steps the officer has taken to promote the work of the Ulster-Scots Agency outside the island of Ireland.

Baroness Amos: The Cultural Affairs Officer has offered the Ulster-Scots Agency the opportunity to promote its work at meetings and events in the United States. The agency's website has been featured on a number of occasions at events in Washington and a package of leaflets produced by the agency ("The Ulster-Scots in America") was among literature distributed at a number of events in the United States.

Ulster-Scots Culture

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will define what they mean when they use the term "Ulster-Scots culture".

Baroness Amos: "Ulster-Scots culture" is defined in the North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 as relating to the cultural traditions of the part of the population of Northern Ireland and the border counties which is of Scottish ancestry and the influence of their cultural traditions on others, both within the island of Ireland and in the rest of the world.

Northern Ireland: School Funding

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What, since 1990, has been the required number of pupils enrolling in a school in Northern Ireland for the school to receive government funding; whether there have been any exceptions; and, if so, what schools were involved; and what were the reasons given.

Baroness Amos: The numbers enrolled at schools are kept under review with the relevant school authorities and amalgamation or closure is agreed for schools that are no longer considered viable. There are no set enrolments below which funding is automatically withheld: viability is considered on a case-by-case basis. To receive government support schools must also satisfy the following requirements:
	School management—the school must have a scheme of management under Article 123 of Education Reform (NI) Order 1989 and a board of governors constituted under Article 11 of the Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1986.
	Teachers—teachers must be properly qualified under Article 70(i) of the Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1986 and must observe days of operation under the teacher's regulations.
	Curriculum—there is a specific statutory requirement under the Education Reform (NI) Order 1989 that to qualify for grant a school must teach the Northern Ireland school curriculum as specified in the order.
	The department is also required to ensure that the establishment of a new school will not result in unreasonable public expenditure and will be viable in the long-term.
	The current enrolment criteria for all new schools to qualify for funding are:
	Primary schools:
	Rural areas Minimum P1 intake of 12 pupils
	Urban areas Minimum P1 intake of 15 pupils
	Secondary schools: Minimum intake of 50 pupils
	The criteria for primary schools have been in place since 2000 and for post-primary schools since 2001. In recent years, new schools have generally been in either the integrated or Irish-medium sector. The criteria that applied to integrated schools prior to the introduction of the current requirements are below. These covered the Irish-medium sector since 1998.
	
		
			  Primary Year 1 intake Secondary Year 8 intake 
			 1990 15 60 
			 1996 25 100 
			 1998 25 80 
			 2000 112/15 As above 
			 2001 112/15 80 
		
	
	1 Rural/Urban respectively
	Two new schools received funding without strictly meeting the relevant intake criteria, as follows:
	(i) In 1996, Meanscoil Feirste, the only Irish-medium post-primary school in Northern Ireland, was awarded grant-aided status, although it did not achieve the required intake. There was, however, firm evidence from the school's previous intakes and the growth in the Irish-medium primary school sector that the school would shortly achieve the level of enrolments and that these would be sustainable.
	(ii) In 2002, Bunscoil Bheanna Boirche, an existing independent Irish-medium primary school in Castlewellan, was approved for funding with a year 1 intake of 10 instead of 12. The decision was taken on the basis that the school had just fallen short of the minimum but had 12 pre-school children in the attached pre-school unit. The school at the time also had a total of 32 children of compulsory school age already attending.

Northern Ireland: Loyal Order Parades

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 22 June (WA 115), why Tourism Ireland has not promoted and supported Loyal Order parades in Ulster as tourist attractions; and what steps it is now taking to do so.

Baroness Amos: Tourism Ireland Limited carries out strategic all-Ireland destination marketing in all markets outside the island of Ireland.
	Responsibility for promoting and marketing detailed listings of tourist attractions in Northern Ireland lies with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) and in the Republic of Ireland it falls to Failte Ireland. NITB maintains a database record of the major Loyal Order parades and ensures these are published on its consumer website.
	I also refer the noble Lord to my Answer for HL3439.

Northern Ireland: Loyal Order Parades

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 22 June (WA 115), concerning the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, why the only Loyal Order parade listed in the annual events listing brochure for 2004 was the Maiden City Festival.

Baroness Amos: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) maintains a database record of the major Loyal Order parades and ensures these are published on its consumer website.
	NITB has recently met with the Grand Orange Lodge to examine ways to work with it to increase the promotion of the 12 July parades.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In each recruitment round for the Police Service of Northern Ireland since its creation, how many application forms have been requested; how many were received; what was the number in each merit pool; and what was the number of recruits from each round, broken down into Roman Catholics and non-Roman Catholics.

Baroness Amos: I am advised that the numbers requested are as follows:
	
		
			 Total number appointed on 50/50 basis 
			 Campaign Number of application forms requested Number Received Number in Merit Pool Roman Catholic Non-Roman Catholic 
			 1 20,283 7,843 602 153 1 152 
			 2 9,607 4,910 458 98 98 
			 3 8,929 4,674 419 83 83 
			 2 4 8,579 4,410 857 199 197 
			 2 5 9,752 6,047 1,087 125 140 
			 2 6 6,660 5,420 880 11 17 
			 2 7 4,596 3 4,800 
		
	
	1 Excluding one non-R.C., candidate who withdrew at the final moment.
	2 Appointments are not yet complete for these campaigns. The number recorded reflects those appointed to date.
	3 Including online applications.

Ulster Political Research Group

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there has been any contact between the North/South Ministerial Council Secretariat in Armagh and the Ulster Political Research Group; if so, why such contact was made; and what is the Cross-Border Implementation Body's mandate for such contacts.

Baroness Amos: The NSMC Secretariat is staffed by officials drawn from the Irish Government and from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. Those staff may exercise both secretariat and other, wider, functions. Acting in their capacity as officials of the Irish Government and OFMDFM, staff of the secretariat have helped to facilitate meetings between members of the Ulster Political Research Group and a number of external organisations.

Belfast: Waterways

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 24 February (WA 40), why those public authorities who own land or roadways adjacent to the Knock and Connswater Rivers do not clear the channels of those rivers; and why clearing of rivers in Northern Ireland is not the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Rivers Agency.

Baroness Amos: The major urban sections of the Knock and Connswater Rivers are designated watercourses within the terms of the Drainage (NI) Order 1973 and therefore channel maintenance to ensure free flows is the responsibility of the Rivers Agency, and not adjacent landowners.
	Only very short sections are undesignated and the public authorities owning adjacent lands have been advised of their responsibility for channel clearance.
	The Rivers Agency's drainage remit in clearing rivers in Northern Ireland is limited to those watercourses designated by the Drainage Council for Northern Ireland. In general designated watercourses are those deemed to be beyond the maintenance capability of adjacent landowners and in which works at public expense provide value for money.

Rehabilitation of Offenders(Northern Ireland) Order

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What progress they are making on the review of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Order (Northern Ireland); and whether they are consulting about the special needs of persons convicted of scheduled offences.

Baroness Amos: The representations we received in our consultation exercise on reform of the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 included views on scheduled offending.
	My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland (Mr Spellar) is currently considering the responses received and anticipates bringing forward legislative proposals in the autumn.

Parliamentary Estate: Dust

Lord Roberts of Conwy: asked the Chairman of Committees:
	What analyses have been carried out over the past year of the dust content of the atmosphere in the Parliamentary Estate; and what were the results of any such analyses, in particular, what proportion is attributed to the demolition of buildings; and
	What proportion of the dust in the Parliamentary Estate is thought to be carcinogenic.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: Analyses of the dust content of the atmosphere are not carried out as part of the regular monitoring of the Parliamentary Estate. However, whenever works require asbestos to be removed, or if the encapsulation of any asbestos is disturbed, or if any previously unknown asbestos is discovered, then air tests are done in the vicinity. Tests have been carried out on 10 sites in the past year, and in none of these cases was any airborne asbestos dust found. There is therefore no particular cause for concern that the dust on the Parliamentary Estate is carcinogenic.

Cameroon: Elections

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What further discussions they have had or will have with President Biya of Cameroon on progress towards free and fair elections in October 2004; whether they will ask why observer status was refused by the Ministry of Territorial Administration to certain applicants who wished to observe the partial rerun of the 2002 municipal elections held in the Cameroon on 13 June.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My right honourable friend the Prime Minister and my honourable friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa (Chris Mullin) have discussed the importance of a free, fair and transparent election with President Biya when he visited the UK in March 2004. The UK maintains a constant dialogue with the Government of Cameroon on preparations for the election. We were not aware of refusals by the Government of Cameroon to grant observer status to applicants wishing to observe the partial rerun of the 2002 municipal elections. Two representatives of the British High Commission observed the election reruns and we are discussing their observations with the Government of Cameroon.

Libya: Capital Punishment

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations they are making to the Government of Libya and to international bodies concerning the proposed execution of a Palestinian doctor and five Bulgarian nurses.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: I spoke to Libyan Foreign Minister Shalgam on 9 May to express our concern at the verdict. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary spoke to Bulgarian Minister Passy immediately after the verdicts were handed down to offer our support. He also spoke to Mr. Shalgam on 25 May raising our concerns.
	The European Union Troika met Mr. Shalgam during the EuroMed Ministerial in Dublin on 6 May to highlight the EU's concern at the court's decision and underline that a satisfactory resolution to this case is a factor in the further improvement of Libya's relations with the EU. An EU demarche was made on Libyan Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem in Tripoli on 12 June.
	The defendants have signalled that they will appeal the decision. The Government will continue to monitor developments through our Embassy in Tripoli and push for an early hearing.

Home Detention Curfew

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many prisoners have been released on the home detention curfew scheme since January 1999; what were the categories of offences for which they had been sentenced; how many such prisoners were released in each category; and, in relation to each category, what was the average sentence received.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The requested information, for the period 28 January 1999 to 30 April 2004, is provided in the table.
	The table includes releases relating to sexual offenders. These were eligible to be considered for release under the home detention curfew (HDC) until March 2001. Since then prisoners subject to the registration requirements of Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 (now replaced by Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) are statutorily excluded from the scheme and all other prisoners convicted of a sexual offence are presumed unsuitable for release on HDC. In addition, since 14 July 2003 prisoners convicted of certain serious offences including offences involving the death of the victim, attempted murder, threats to kill and racially aggravated offences are presumed unsuitable for release unless there are exceptional circumstances.
	
		HDC discharges by office type
		
			 28 January 1999 to 30 April 2004 Average sentence(months) 
			 Total 92,280 14.5 
			 Violence against the person 16,717 14.8 
			 Sexual offences 97 11.4 
			 Burglary 8,596 19.6 
			 Robbery 4,417 27.9 
			 Theft and handling 12,319 11.0 
			 Frauds and forgery 6,505 13.4 
			 Drugs offences 13,323 22.2 
			 Motoring offences 14,372 5.4 
			 Other 15,934 12.8

Whitehall: Access for Peers

Lord Smith of Clifton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Under what circumstances, when Whitehall is cordoned off, a Metropolitan Police officer may refuse passage to a Member of the House of Lords even when a Lords' pass is presented.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: If an area is cordoned off, the decision to refuse passage to any person is based entirely on the safety of that individual, in what may be a dangerous area, or to facilitate a rescue operation. Every endeavour is always made to restore normality as speedily as possible.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Where the Armed Forces recruiting offices are in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; and
	How many individuals, broken down by single-Service and multi-Service, each Armed Forces recruiting office has recruited in the past year.

Lord Bach: The locations of the Armed Forces careers officers (AFCO), and the single-Service (predominantly Army) satellite recruiting offices are detailed in the table below. Also included is the number of individuals recruited by each AFCO, by Service, in financial year 2003–04:
	
		
			 AFCO RN Army RAF Total 
			 Aberdeen 45 83 101 229 
			 Aldershot — 113 — 113 
			 Ashington — 46 — 46 
			 Bangor — 68 — 68 
			 Barnsley — 121 — 121 
			 Barnstaple — 56 — 56 
			 Barrow-in-Furness — 75 — 75 
			 Bathgate — 49 — 49 
			 Belfast 74 120 163 357 
			 Birkenhead — 122 — 122 
			 Birmingham 139 327 286 752 
			 Bishop Auckland — 80 — 80 
			 Blackburn — 85 — 85 
			 Blackheath — 110 — 110 
			 Blackpool — 94 — 94 
			 Bolton — 153 — 153 
			 Boston — 67 — 67 
			 Bournemouth 76 89 107 272 
			 Bradford — 170 — 170 
			 Brighton 46 200 152 398 
			 Bristol 141 226 189 556 
			 Burnley — 103 — 103 
			 Burton-on-Trent — 118 — 118 
			 Cambridge 16 107 120 243 
			 Canterbury 25 63 — 88 
			 Cardiff 74 160 208 442 
			 Carlisle 46 432 82 560 
			 Carmarthen — 39 — 39 
			 Catterick — 25 — 25 
			 Chatham 44 135 111 290 
			 Chelmsford 33 150 — 183 
			 Chester — 82 — 82 
			 Chesterfield — 62 — 62 
			 Chichester — 60 — 60 
			 Coleraine — 30 — 30 
			 Coventry 47 167 100 314 
			 Croydon — 168 — 168 
			 Darlington 66 90 — 156 
			 Derby 64 63 — 127 
			 Doncaster — 144 — 144 
			 Dover — 42 — 42 
			 Dumbarton — 48 — 48 
			 Dumfries — 78 — 78 
			 Dundee 65 67 190 322 
			 Dunfermline 36 112 — 148 
			 Durham — 120 — 120 
			 Edinburgh 93 144 128 365 
			 Elgin — 40 — 40 
			 Exeter 71 79 171 321 
			 Galashiels — 48 — 48 
			 Glasgow 90 202 116 408 
			 Gloucester 57 85 178 320 
			 Greenock — 48 — 48 
			 Grimsby — 110 — 110 
			 Guildford 46 — — 46 
			 Halifax — 71 — 71 
			 Hamilton — 141 — 141 
			 Haverford West — 54 — 54 
			 Hereford — 78 — 78 
			 Herford — 23 — 23 
			 Huddersfield — 104 — 104 
			 Hull 117 150 77 344 
			 Ilford 21 210 — 231 
			 Inverness 19 72 108 199 
			 Ipswich 48 58 — 106 
			 Irvine — 148 — 148 
			 Kirkcaldy — 83 — 83 
			 Lancaster — 77 — 77 
			 Leeds 87 180 227 494 
			 Leicester 59 142 182 383 
			 Lincoln 57 78 152 287 
			 Liverpool 174 223 257 654 
			 London 182 170 253 605 
			 Luton 69 135 99 303 
			 Manchester 206 256 211 673 
			 Mansfield — 113 — 113 
			 Middlesborough 88 295 174 557 
			 Milton Keynes — 95 — 95 
			 Newcastle 167 237 193 597 
			 Newport — 118 — 118 
			 Newport I of W — 39 — 39 
			 Norwich 58 118 215 391 
			 Northampton — 128 — 128 
			 Nottingham 93 124 281 498 
			 Oldham — 111 — 111 
			 Omagh — 14 — 14 
			 Oxford 55 82 196 333 
			 Paisley — 69 — 69 
			 Perth — 36 — 36 
			 Peterborough 25 128 225 378 
			 Plymouth 239 171 172 582 
			 Pontypridd — 124 — 124 
			 Portadown — 22 — 22 
			 Portsmouth 207 92 218 517 
			 Preston 91 115 207 413 
			 Reading — 116 — 116 
			 Redruth 67 62 91 220 
			 Rhyll — 84 — 84 
			 Salisbury — 77 — 77 
			 Scarborough — 48 — 48 
			 Sheffield 85 149 206 440 
			 Shrewsbury 48 108 185 341 
			 Southampton 50 85 — 135 
			 Southend — 129 93 222 
			 South Shields — 87 — 87 
			 St. Helens 60 — — 60 
			 Stirling — 71 — 71 
			 Stockport — 118 — 118 
			 Stoke 32 175 97 304 
			 Strand (London) — 603 — 603 
			 Sunderland — 117 — 117 
			 Swansea 75 132 108 315 
			 Taunton 91 84 — 175 
			 Torquay — 75 — 75 
			 Tunbridge Wells — 29 — 29 
			 Upavon — 93 — 93 
			 Wakefield — 106 — 106 
			 Warrington — 100 — 100 
			 Wembley — 23 — 23 
			 Wigan — 127 — 127 
			 Wolverhampton 24 168 — 192 
			 Worcester — 118 — 118 
			 Workington — 42 — 42 
			 Wrexham 29 121 204 354 
			 York — 58 — 58

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many recruits joined the infantry in the past year.

Lord Bach: During financial year 2003–04, 4,660 untrained soldiers joined the Regular Army infantry from civil life.
	Note that figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston: Laser Facility

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the proposed replacement laser facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, will be capable of testing and certifying a new generation of nuclear warhead; and, if so, whether this complies with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Lord Bach: The purpose of the proposed ORION facility is to contribute towards ensuring that the United Kingdom nuclear warhead capability remains safe and reliable. The use of such technology with respect to nuclear warheads and nuclear material does not contravene the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston: Laser Facility

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will call in the planning application to build a replacement laser facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston.

Lord Bach: There is no need to do so. The Ministry of Defence uses the procedure under Department of the Environment Circular 18/84 Part 4 paragraph 21, whereby the Secretary of State for Defence reviews objections made during the planning process and considers whether it is appropriate to refer these to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. This procedure has been followed in the case of the proposed laser facility. The Secretary of State for Defence believes that objections on planning policy issues have been taken into account.

Naval Discipline Act

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What guidance is given to commanding officers in relation to administering summary justice in accordance with the Naval Discipline Act 1957.

Lord Bach: The main sources of guidance available to commanding officers in relation to administering summary justice in accordance with the Naval Discipline Act 1957 are the Manual of Naval Law, A Guide to Discipline Reporting and A Guide to Summary Punishments. Training on Service discipline matters is provided incrementally throughout an officer's career. Additionally, guidance is also available from a Service legal adviser who is always contactable.

Gibraltar: Military Aircraft

Lord Hoyle: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations are being made to Spain to allow military aircraft from NATO or NATO members to fly over Spain if Gibraltar is their airfield for arrival or departure.

Lord Bach: None.

Planning Inspectorate

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they are taking to ensure that the Planning Inspectorate is able to communicate decisions electronically, and that its website allows members of the public to access appeal decisions.

Lord Rooker: The Planning Inspectorate is developing a new online planning casework service for making and tracking the progress of planning appeals and other casework. The new service will enable the public to search for and view new appeal decisions. It is anticipated that the new service will be rolled out progressively from mid-November this year.

Gypsies and Travellers

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What has been the outcome of their consideration of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Connors v United Kingdom (Application No 66746/01); in particular, whether they have concluded that a change in the status of Gypsies residing on local authority residential sites is appropriate; and if so, whether they will ask the Law Commission to consider the matter as part of its current tenure review.

Lord Rooker: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is still considering whether changes in the tenure status of those living on local authority Gypsy and Traveller sites would be appropriate. If our current review of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation concludes that changes are required, then the Law Commission's tenure review work is likely to be an appropriate way to take this forward.

Regional Chambers

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the purpose of incorporating regional assemblies as private limited liability companies; and what is the legal basis for such incorporation.

Lord Rooker: The regional chambers—often referred to as assemblies—are voluntary, independent bodies, designated by the Government under the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. Some Chambers are unincorporated bodies while others are incorporated bodies limited by guarantee under the terms of the Companies Act 1985.
	Chambers receive government grant to enable them to undertake their scrutiny and regional planning functions. For unincorporated chambers grant is paid to a third party—an "accountable body"—that has the requisite legal status and financial viability to receive government grant. Where a chamber has incorporated then government grant can be paid to it directly.
	The Government are not "incorporating" regional chambers, nor have they instructed them to incorporate. An unincorporated chamber may choose to move to incorporated status, but that is a matter for its members to decide for themselves.

Sexual Health: Internet Sites

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action the Teenage Pregnancy Unit is taking to ensure that Internet searches by teenagers guide them to bona fide United Kingdom sites for authoritative and responsible advice on sexual activity and sexual health.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: It is not possible to guarantee that young people searching the Internet for information on teenage pregnancy or sexual health will not inadvertently access an inappropriate site, in particular if they are using home-based PCs.
	We do, however, provide clear guidance to schools, in order to minimise the risk of young people accessing inappropriate material from a school-based computer. Recent guidance issued by DfES to schools: Superhighway Safety: Safe use of the Internet raises awareness of both the benefits and risks of the Internet and related technologies, providing an understanding of their appropriate and effective use both in and outside the classroom. Through the National Grid for Learning (NGfL), we provide access to high-quality educational resources within a safe area of the Internet. All sites linked to the NGfL conform to published standards and a code of conduct, one of the principles of which is that sites should "provide no direct access to undesirable materials". A copy of the code of conduct can be accessed from www.ngfl.gov.uk.
	While schools are relatively protected areas, where pupils are able to access different technologies under human and technological supervision and monitoring, this level of protection will not necessarily be the case where young people access information from home. Guidance therefore makes clear that schools should aim to bridge the gap between home and school, sharing policies and approaches to Internet safety with parents so that the same messages can be extended into the home environment.
	The Government have created a youth portal—www.need2know.co.uk—to provide a first-stop shop to responsible and authoritative sources of information for young people on a wide range of issues that they have identified as being important to them, including sexual health. The website that supports the teenage pregnancy strategy's national awareness campaign (RUThinking.co.uk) purposely does not have the word "sex" in its name, to minimise the risk of young people accessing inappropriate sites.

State Pension

Lord Hoyle: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the number of state retirement pensioners; and how much is being paid in state retirement pensions in Warrington.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The total number of people in Great Britain in receipt of a state pension as at 30 September 2003 was 10,398,740.
	The total number of state pension recipients in the unitary authority of Warrington as at 30 September 2003 was 32,600.
	In 2003–04 the state pension expenditure in the unitary authority of Warrington is estimated to have been around £150 million.
	Notes: 
	1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. Caseload figures are based on a five per cent sample from the pensions strategy computer system as at 30 September 2003, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	3. Figures for Warrington were calculated using caseload and average amount information from the pensions strategy computer system and calibrated to the estimated outturn for Great Britain for 2003–04.
	Source:
	Caseload figures—IAD Information Centre five per cent sample.

Winter Fuel Allowance

Lord Hoyle: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people receive the winter fuel allowance in Warrington; and what is the cost to the taxpayer.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The number of people in the Warrington local authority area who received a winter fuel payment for winter 2003–04 was 36,030 at a total cost of £5,854,000.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, WFP data winter 2003–04 100 per cent sample.
	Notes:
	1. Figures for total number of payments made are rounded to the nearest five.
	2. Please note that the figures for 2003–04 refer only to the main payment run so they do not include the late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid in late payment runs (0.8 per cent of all payments). Since most of the payments made in late payment runs are people who are not receiving another benefit from DWP and whose claims had not been received by the qualifying week, most are men aged 60.
	3. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.

Winter Fuel Allowance

Lord Hoyle: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many over-80s in Warrington are receiving the extra winter fuel allowance; and what is the cost to the taxpayer.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The number of people in the Warrington local authority aged 80 or over who are in receipt of the extra winter fuel payment is 6,380 at a cost of £1,622,700.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, WFP data winter 2003–04 100 per cent sample.
	Notes:
	1. Figures for total number of payments made are rounded to the nearest five.
	2. Please note that the figures for 2003–04 refer only to the main payment run so they do not include the late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid in late payment runs (0.8 per cent of all payments). Since most of the payments made in late payment runs are people who are not receiving another benefit from DWP and whose claims had not been received by the qualifying week, very few indeed are aged 80 or over.
	3. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.

Pension Credit

Lord Hoyle: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people in Warrington qualify for pension credit; how many are receiving this; and what is the cost to the taxpayer.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: Estimates of the level of eligibility for pension credit are not available in respect of individual constituencies or local authority areas. However, we estimate that approximately 500,000 households in the north-west region (rounded to the nearest 50,000) are likely to be eligible for pension credit in 2004–05.
	At 31 May, 3,995 households in the constituency of Warrington North and 3,456 households in the constituency of Warrington South (rounded to the nearest five) were receiving pension credit, with average awards of £39.42 and £38.50 respectively.
	Information on the administrative costs of pension credit is not available. In accordance with the requirements of resource accounting and budgeting, the department now accounts for its administration and benefit expenditure by strategic objective, as set out in its public service agreements (PSA), and by individual requests for resources (RfRs), as set out in the departmental estimates and accounts.

Web Accessibility: Disabled People

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What progress is being made in their discussions with the Disability Rights Commission following its April report on web accessibility; and when they anticipate making recommendations arising from these discussions.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The recommendations for government in the Disability Rights Commission's report on web accessibility are the responsibility of a number of departments. Officials are meeting to consider those recommendations and we will respond to them in due course.

Television Licences

Lord Hoyle: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people in Warrington receive free television licences; and how much they cost.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: TV Licensing, which administers free television licences for people aged 75 or over as an agent for the BBC, is not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, 2001 Census data for parliamentary constituencies identifies 12,209 people aged 75 or over living in the Warrington North and South constituencies.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 1 July concerning the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (WA 46), what is meant by "compensation is payable to eligible claimants, nearly always irrespective of current residence".

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The statement "compensation is payable to eligible claimants, nearly always irrespective of current residence" refers to certain types of claim against insolvent insurers. For claims from individuals in respect of certain types of insurance contract, the habitual residence of the claimant at the date the insurance contract commenced may determine whether a contract is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, although the scheme's present rules provide that, for this purpose, residence in the UK (including Northern Ireland) does qualify. The scheme's rules are written by the Financial Services Authority and form part of the authority's handbook, which can be found on the FSAs website (www.fsa.gov.uk). The following link goes straight to the scheme's rules: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/vhb/html/comp/comptoc.html The particular rules illustrating the above point are 5.4.2, 5.4.3 and 5.4.4.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Financial Services Compensation Scheme has paid out to an individual or company based in Northern Ireland in respect of an incident which occurred outside Northern Ireland.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Financial Services Compensation scheme has paid compensation to claimants based in Northern Ireland. The scheme's rules do not prevent compensation being paid to claimants in Northern Ireland in respect of incidents that occurred outside Northern Ireland. Records of individual claims paid are not available to Her Majesty's Government but further details are available from the scheme at: Financial Services Compensation Scheme, 7th Floor, Lloyds Chambers, 1 Portsoken Street, London E1 8BN.

TB Testing: Collection of Roadside Carcases

Lord Rotherwick: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs's Wildlife Unit collect badger and deer carcasses from the roadside for tuberculosis testing in all regions of the United Kingdom; and, if not, in which regions removal of such wildlife carcasses is the responsibility of the highways agencies alone.

Lord Whitty: In Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Dorset, Defra's Wildlife Unit will collect any badger carcases from the roadside deemed suitable for TB testing. Defra is also undertaking a survey of badger carcases (and deer with suspect lesions) in the Furness peninsula, Cumbria.
	Outside these counties, the local authority is responsible (or, in the case of motorways, the appropriate highways agency).

TB Testing: Collection of Roadside Carcases

Lord Rotherwick: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What guidance they give for the treatment of wildlife carcasses collected by highways agencies.

Lord Whitty: The carcases, or parts of carcases, of wild animals are exempt from the scope of the Animal By-Products Regulation unless they are thought to be diseased or are used to produce game trophies. Although the regulation places them under no legal obligation, owners of property on which there are dead wild animals are advised to contact their local authority for advice on appropriate disposal methods.
	However, in some parts of the country, (these are the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire), badger carcases may be collected for examination for TB as part of a limited road traffic accident (RTA) survey of badger carcases. Road accident badger carcases in Cornwall, Devon or Dorset should be reported to Defra on freephone 0800 389 7395 and those in Gloucester, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire reported on freephone 0800 389 7423.

Orchards

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many acres of traditional orchards there were in each of the years 2000 to 2004; how many of these had dual use for grazing; and what percentage of that total for dual use was within the Stewardship Scheme.

Lord Whitty: Data are not collected on traditional orchards or the area of orchards that are used for grazing. The June agricultural census gives the area of non-commercial and commercial orchards grown on holdings. Traditional orchards may fall into either of these categories. Provisional figures for June 2004 will be published in September 2004.
	
		Area in hectares of orchards in England
		
			  Non-commercial Commercial 
			 2000 3,331 22,479 
			 2001 3,557 22,441 
			 2002 3,365 20,250 
			 2003 3,496 19,870 
		
	
	Source:
	June agricultural census.
	Notes:
	1. The areas shown are the field area of the orchard, not the tree area.
	2. Non-commercial orchards are those where the fruit is not sold for any purpose.

Exotic Birds

Lord Soulsby of Swaffham Prior: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	(a) why the guidance leaflets issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to members of the public wishing to import exotic birds from third countries not classified under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) agreements make no reference to the requirement to place sentinel birds in exotic bird transport; and, (b) whether they plan to place exotic birds not covered by the CITES import requirements under those requirements in the interests of animal welfare,

Lord Whitty: (a) Defra's guidance leaflets make no reference to a requirement to place sentinel birds with exotic birds during transport as it is not an animal health requirement under EU or national law.
	Exotic captive birds must be imported in line with the animal health requirements and the veterinary certification laid down in Commission Decision 2000/666/EC as well as current animal welfare rules.
	(b) There are no plans to place exotic birds which are not covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) under such requirements in the interests of animal welfare. CITES is not a body which has control or authority in matters of animal welfare. The aim of CITES is to protect certain plants and animals by regulating and monitoring their international trade to prevent it reaching unsustainable levels.
	There are separate EU welfare rules which are implemented in UK by the Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order.

Eggs: Mercosur Negotiations

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Following the refusal by the Mercosur countries to consider animal welfare issues within the trade negotiations with the European Union, what steps they will take to ensure that consumers can identify those products containing eggs that do not conform to the standards required of European Union producers.

Lord Whitty: We have already made clear to the Commission our concerns regarding the inclusion of eggs and egg products on the list of goods from which tariffs will be removed in the EU's market access offer to Mercosur. The EU's offer, which has now been submitted, is an ambitious one, covering a wide range of products.
	The WTO does not allow restrictions on imports purely on the basis of production or processing method. In the light of this, the EU has been pressing in the WTO for recognition of the right of member countries to choose for themselves the level of consumer information about production and processing methods that can be included with imported products. But this has met with little support from elsewhere. I have asked my officials to keep the British Egg Industry Council informed on developments.

Cross-compliance and National Reserve Consultation

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have set a date for the publication of their response to the cross-compliance and national reserve consultation.

Lord Whitty: Announcements will be made on the issues addressed in these consultations later in the summer.

Civil Service

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they are taking to ensure that their reforms of the Civil Service do not adversely affect the number and proportion of disabled people employed in the Civil Service or the targets promoting disability equality in the service.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Govenment remain committed to achieving a Civil Service which is representative of the society it serves, at all levels. Departments will be expected to consider the impact on diversity in the workforce in developing their plans for reform, to ensure that specific groups of staff are not disporportionately affected.